International Coalition to Meet at Rutgers-Newark to Address Global Climate and Environmental Justice

(Newark, NJ – Oct. 25, 2018) -- From November 1-3, the Humanities Action Lab (HAL), a coalition of universities, issue organizations, and public spaces led by Rutgers University-Newark, will bring together scholars and activists from 23 cities to Newark to develop an international initiative on climate and environmental justice. To be created by over 600 students and people from front-line communities across the country and around the world, the initiative will include a traveling installation and digital platform featuring stories of climate and environmental (in)justice by and from each of the participating communities. After launching in Newark, the project will travel to each of the communities that created it, with public dialogues and actions in each place.

The convening gathers participants from participating universities and issue organizations on the front lines of climate and environmental justice work, with a particular focus on Newark organizations, including HAL partner the Ironbound Community Corporation, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Register for the convening here: https://halconvening2019.eventbrite.com

Participants from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, to Miami, to Minneapolis will learn about Newark and its history of environmental activism through a “toxic tour” of the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark, led by the Ironbound Community Corporation, and a hands-on artmaking workshop with Kevin Sampson, using recycled materials and found objects.

Newark and international participants will then work together around a variety of shared challenges to:

• Explore how history and memory can provide a deeper understanding of climate and environmental justice;
• Exchange local stories of environmental and climate justice and map how to connect them into a global public project;
• Explore how students and frontline communities can collaborate in equitable ways to engage local histories and share them with global publics;
• Explore strategies for exhibition design, and strategies for public events and actions, that the project can use to inspire public engagement in environmental and climate justice in each locality where the exhibit travels

A special session focused on New Jersey on Saturday, November 3, invites community leaders, advocates, and residents to envision how to tell New Jersey’s “chapter” of this global story to diverse publics here and around the world, and use it to inspire new local and global action.

Register for the New Jersey Saturday session here: https://halconvening_nj.eventbrite.com

Follow the convening on Twitter: @Humanities_lab
#HALConvening
#EJRising

Kimberlee Williams, Director, Communications and Marketing, kimberlee.williams@rutgers.edu, 973-353-5262